The Problem With Work

Queries: longandsour@gmail.com In this episode of The Problem with Work we discuss Chapter 5 - The Future is Now and the epilogue - A Life Beyond Work. In these pages, Weeks divides the discussion into three sections: cases against utopia, defence of utopia, and forms and functions of the utopian expression. After considering Weeks’ relevant points from the last section, we’ll summarize the broad...

Email: longandsour@gmail.com In this episode, we discuss Chapter 4 - Hours for What We Will: Work, Family and the Demand for Shorter Hours . In her book, Weeks analyses 3 different ideological cases for shortening the workday: (1) less work for more family time (2) less work for more free time (3) less work for more freedom to shape our society After presenting each case and considering possible p...

Comments and Questions: Email longandsour@gmail.com In this episode of The Problem with Work we discuss the second part of chapter 3, Working Demands, and specifically about Kathi Weeks’ formulation of a proposal for a Universal Basic Income. Following in her footsteps, we elaborate upon a Universal Basic Income as a concrete policy proposal, but also as a conceptual tool of analysis, in the forms...

Questions & Comments? Email <longandsour@gmail.com> In this episode, we set our sights on Chapter 3 where Weeks shifts her focus from “the development of an antiwork critique to the incitement of a postwork political imaginary,” (p. 32). We focus on Weeks’ rereading of the 1970s movement Wages for Housework. We discuss the 3 aspects of the movement she highlights as having valuable insig...

In this episode, we discuss what Weeks refers to as the "parallel history of those who failed to internalize the ‘gospel of work’”. This is the other side of the story we told in Episode Four. Instead, it is about resisting and rejecting the Work Ethic. We offer a brief overview of what was (and is) rejected, by whom , and via what action. In our discussion on rejecting the Work Ethic, we talk abo...

In this episode, we discuss what Weeks refers to as the “the diagnostic and deconstructive dimensions of the critical theory of work”. We do this in three stages: the evolution of the Work Ethic, the contradictions which reveal vulnerabilities in the Work Ethic, and our professional take on Chapter One. In our discussion on the ever-evolving Work Ethic, we divide our analyses up into the sub-theme...

In this episode, we discuss Weeks' conceptual pairing of freedom and equality as a way to consider domination and subordination at work. We talk about this using examples of employment contracts, gig work design, and roles with power and authority. We also begin an exploration of traditional work values - a lengthy and layered topic that will continue in future episodes. This time, we consider...

In this episode of The Problem with Work, we introduce Kathi Weeks’ concept of ‘the work society’. We examine the interrelated ideas of social construction and reproduction through work, and identity via the categories of gender and class. We discuss the usefulness of finding a name for work’s reach beyond the economic realm and into social and personal life. We talk about how this reach leads to...

In this very first episode of The Problem with Work, we briefly introduce Kathi Weeks’ book after which this podcast is named and tell you a little about how our project came to be. After a short introduction on our first encounter with this book, we present an overview of its two main parts: a critique of the status quo, described by the author as “anti-work critique”, and a constructive proposit...